Photo Courtesy of Kate Brown Photography
The only time I ever felt I knew what I was doing with parenting was before I was a parent. How to get my future kids to sleep, to behave, to not wail in the grocery store, to eat all kinds of foods… I had it all laid out in my mind that I would be the best parent in the world and my kids would totally rock at everything in life.
Honestly, I think Brad and I are the best parents – for our kids. And our kids do totally rock, but it’s definitely not anything like what my pre-parenting expectations thought things would be.
The Facebook Fast last month was good. REALLY good. I learned to stop scratching the itch to fill my time with everyone else’s life, and got a tad bit better about living my own. I’m not very good at getting back to people about messages and such now, but I’m kind of relieved that I don’t have to answer everything the moment it comes to me. And I’m trying my best to not begin sentences with, “did you read on Facebook that…”. Social media is a wonderful way to stay in touch, as long as it isn’t taking you away from REAL life – the good, the bad, and the crazy – and supplementing that realness for a bird’s eye view of how other people are living. I found it so easy to get sucked into just one more status update, one more article, one more piece of someone else’s life until I had no room for the itty bitty pieces that make up me and my family’s life.
I’ve been quiet on my little e-space here for a little while, but today I just felt like writing. Usually, I’ve got a dozen ideas stewing in my brain, but this just isn’t one of those posts. This is a hi-I’m-alive-and-wanted-to-share-a-thought-with-you kind of post.
So here is my thought: I am not a wise mother who knows all things and has quick fixes to the difficulties of parenting, but I’m doing the best I can. As Shakespeare said, “A fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be a fool.” Whether it’s the baby refusing bottles, toddler meltdowns from meals, teething, nap strikes, an eternal winter with no outside play, a sea of dirty laundry, or a sleepless night meeting up with a sleepless day, I may not have the Perfect Blog Post to fix all these things, but I have two awesome kids that know they are loved, and that is enough for me.
And that Best Advice I Could Like Ever, Ever Give You? Look to yourself, because you are the best parent for your children, and your kids totally rock, too.
Foolishly without wisdom,
~M
Wonderfully written!